Squatting and Midfoot Rotation

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Squatting and Midfoot Rotation | Week 15 | Movement Fix Monday

There are four kinds of people in the world.

People who don't squat (I don't have a lot of friends in this category..jk...but seriously)

People who squat and their knees track over the middle to the outside of their foot

People who squat and their knees track inside their 2nd toe

People who squat and their knees track way outside their 5th toe

Let's talk about group 3, the people who squat and their knees track in. If you have ever squatted, you have probably heard the "knees out" cue. There is definitely value in this cue. But what we are talking about in this article and what I discuss in the video is the people who get their knees "out" but their foot starts lifting off the ground in the process. Can people from the other group demonstrate this movement issue? Yes of course.

Anything can happen to anyone at anytime.

It is just most common in group 3 (but you may find this a fair amount of time in group 4 as well).

The athlete who squats but has a hard time getting their knee to track well over their foot without the foot lifting off the ground might have an issue with midfoot rotation. A lot of times this person has "no arch", yet when they are cued with the drill in the video, they magically have an arch.

Don't mistake "no arch" for "you don't know how to make an arch and you don't have the strength to keep the arch".If you can actively create it, it's there.

When the knee tracks over the middle to the outside of the foot in squatting, there will be external rotation of the hip, some internal rotation of the knee, and rotation of the midfoot so that the big toe stays on the ground. If you are missing any of these we will see something undesirable happen in the squat. The athlete who has a hard time achieving this has an issue moving their foot and knee at the same time as their hip. This is a movement skill.

If someone has a hard time achieving a new movement skill standing, it's best to get them lying down to take gravity and a lot of muscle activation out of the equation. The first drill in the video is intended just to get someone to understand what you are trying to have them do. It is a relatively non-functional drill. It is a training tool in my opinion. Once they are able to do it, my goal is to have them able to do it in standing and in a squatting movement, which is the second drill in the video. Once they can do it well standing, you can utilize it in metabolic conditioning.

Remember, metabolic conditioning is the time to gain metabolic conditioning. Movement training is the time to develop movement skills. We want good movement skills expressed in the metabolic training. You are very unlikely to acquire movement skills during metabolic training.

A guy I admire, Christopher Johnson PT, owner of Zeren PT and mass youtube creator on his youtube channel actually has a test named after him looking at aspects of this called the CJ table test. Check out his stuff. His test was the inspiration for this week's post.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, make sure to enter your e-mail address below to get weekly emails and our 30 day movement challenge guide.

- Ryan

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Hmmmmmmm. Curious. I've recently noticed that I can keep my first metatarsal head on the ground if I significantly evert at the ankle. But that irritates my ankles and knees... especially when walking in minimal shoes. It does help me get lower in my squat without a butt wink, likely because everting at the ankle allows me to dorsi-flex—something I don't normally do well. My feet don't look at all like Tia's. I have a lifted first ray (Morton's foot) with the head of the first metatarsal approximately an inch behind the second and third metatarsal heads. I guess what I am wondering is how is she keeping the head of her hallus down? I can't just "press" mine down because the mid-forefoot is lower than the sides. I kinda have to pick sides. Am I making any sense here?

If I could get my feet to connect with the ground correctly, I am pretty sure it would help up the chain.

Colleen, sorry I did not see this till now. ... There is probably an over-shortened long muscle or two traveling from certain bones in your foot up into your leg. (Technically, the "leg" is the compartment from ankle to knee.) The over-shortened muscle(s) is(are) pulling up on one or more bones, preventing them from naturally settling toward the floor without forcing it. (I've not taught anatomy in a decade, so I have to check an anatomy book to figure out the exact most likely culprit.)

Problem is, VERY often, the attempts to pull or push a body segment into the "correct"positioning causes other problems often turning out to be worse than the original issue. This is why I instruct people that attempting to push or pull the body into "proper alignment" often causes BIGGER problems later on, sometimes a lot later.

If the body does not go where you think it should be going, there is a "soft tissue issue" somewhere in need of attention. OR, your bones just won't allow it. Although I think the many ideas about bony limitations, though often correct, are also often VERY overstated.